Free College Football Picks: Today's Expert Picks Against the Spread, College Football Best Bets, Predictions and Parlays.

2019 Illinois Fighting Illini College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/19/2019

When Lovie Smith took over the Illinois program, he didn't try any quick-fix schemes to fix this broken program. Smith has been playing the long game, trying to painstakingly grind while building up the overall roster strength and depth. Smith has gone just 9-27 straight up and 14-22 against the spread in his first three seasons. That is pretty much par for the course, though, for a program that is 43-80 SU over the last 10 years and 39-59 ATS the past eight years.

2019 Vanderbilt Commodores College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/19/2019

I have nothing but respect for this Vanderbilt football program. Vanderbilt is one of the best academic schools in the southeast. And with an enrollment of just under 7,000, this is one of the smallest schools (No. 122) in the FBS. Derek Mason is doing a hell of job, and the Commodores are coming of their fifth bowl appearance in eight years despite playing in the nation's premier football conference.

2019 Rutgers Scarlet Knights College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/19/2019

Chris Ash, a former hot assistant coach coming out of Ohio State, is entering his fourth season at Rutgers. It is time to put up or shut up. The Scarlet Knights are a complete pushover in the Big Ten, and they have been one of the worst programs in the country. Ash has gone just 7-29 straight up in three years and enters this fall on an 11-game losing streak.

2019 Georgia Bulldogs College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/19/2019

There are a lot of hurdles a team must overcome to win a National Championship. They have to handle their nonconference portion of the schedule. They have to take care of their road slate in league play. They have to win their rivalry game. Then they have to take care of business in the conference title game.

2019 Clemson Tigers College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/17/2019

The reigning National Champions have reached Alabama status. That is to say that you only bet on the Tigers, you don't ever waste your time betting against them. And Clemson earned this level of betting respect the hard way. Namely, by demolishing Notre Dame and Alabama last January to improve their record to 4-1 against the spread the last three seasons in College Football Playoff games.

2019 Alabama Crimson Tide College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2019

The most impressive thing about Nick Saban's dynasty is that Alabama has actually been better than expected. (Or you could argue, like I would, that the rest of the SEC has actually been much, much worse than expected.) The Crimson Tide have had only one losing season against the spread over the last four years. Think about that. Despite the fact that every sportsbook in the country jacks up the numbers on this team, they still cover the spread 58 percent of the time (34-25 ATS).

2019 LSU Tigers College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2019

I will admit that I may have underestimated Ed Orgeron. The marble-mouthed, Bayou-bred head coach of the LSU Tigers exceeded expectations last year. LSU opened the year on the fringe of the Top 25 and closed out the year in the Top 10, winning 10 games and the Fiesta Bowl in the process.

2019 Virginia Tech Hokies College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2019

Last year Virginia Tech had its first losing season since 1992. They were able to keep their bowl streak alive at 26 years - thanks to a bunch of ugly wins over bad teams - but the below .500 season started to raise some red flags over coach Justin Fuente and this program.

2019 Missouri Tigers College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2019

Right now the biggest storyline surrounding the Missouri football program is the potential for a bowl ban at the end of this season. I'm not going to go too far into the weeds on this one, but pretty much everyone and anyone that has anything to do with college football thinks it is an absolute joke that the Tigers would get hit with a postseason penalty for their minor infractions.

2019 Florida State Seminoles College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2019

Florida State's 2013 national title and 2014 national semifinal appearances seem like a long time ago. The Seminoles have seen their record stay the same or worsen each of the last five years. And over the last two seasons, they have been massive underachievers, going from No. 2 in the preseason to unranked in 2017 and then seeing their 37-year bowl streak snapped thanks to last season's 5-7 debacle.

2019 Texas A&M Aggies College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2019

Texas A&M is a sexy sleeper pick heading into the 2019 season. That's what happens when you have a national title-winning coach like Jimbo Fisher at the helm leading a roster full of highly-touted recruits. The Aggies enter the 2019 season No. 11 in the country, and the expectation is that they will compete with Alabama and LSU in the SEC.

2019 South Carolina Gamecocks College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2019

It is tough to find a sleeper in the SEC. All of the programs in this league are massively overrated - even the good ones - and they all enter each season with inflated expectations. However, if you are looking for an underrated squad that could wreak some havoc for the top teams in the conference, I would look no further than the Gamecocks.

2019 Tennessee Volunteers College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2019

It seems like every August I am reading stories about how this is the year that Tennessee is poised to burst back through into the top tier of the SEC. And it never happens. So, when I sit and read preseason articles propping up this year's team, I take them all with a grain of salt the size of the Rock of Gibraltar.

2019 Syracuse Orange College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2019

Syracuse has been so bad for so long that it is easy for college football fans to forget what a legacy program the Orange have. Prior to last season, it had been over 15 years since Syracuse had been relevant on a national stage. But prior to that, the Orange had been right there with Penn State as the most dominant programs in the entire northeastern portion of the country.

2019 Miami Hurricanes College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2019

Miami has been one of the most overrated and overhyped programs in the country for the better part of the last decade. And despite having one of the strangest offseasons in college football this year, they are still one of the favorites in the ACC entering the season.

2019 Virginia Cavaliers College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2019

Rebuilding is the very clear theme of this year in the ACC. No fewer than seven teams are in the first or second year of major overhauls, including new coaches, new schemes and a whole bunch of new players. That level of turnover and uncertainty has created an opportunity for Virginia, which is in the fourth season of the Bronco Mendenhall regime. This is kind of a put-up-or-shut-up season for the Cavaliers, who have increased their win total each of the past two seasons under Mendenhall.

2019 NC State Wolfpack College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2019

We'll find out just how much Ryan Finley meant to this program now that the Wolfpack's star quarterback has moved on to the NFL. Finley guided the Wolfpack to an 18-8 straight up record the last two seasons, including a 9-4 mark last year when he was one of just nine returning starters on one of the ACC's youngest rosters.

2019 Louisville Cardinals College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2019

If anything positive can come out of last year's Louisville disaster, it could be that maybe now no one will ever hire human dumpster fire Bobby Petrino ever again. Petrino drove this team completely off the rails in his second stint in the Bluegrass State. In 2016 and 2017 the Cardinals spent time in the Top 20. But after losing Lamar Jackson, the team went right over a cliff, and Petrino couldn't do anything to help them out.

2019 North Carolina Tar Heels College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2019

Mack is back. Mack Brown is back in college football after a six-year hiatus. He will begin his 30th season as a head coach while taking over a North Carolina team program that has fallen off a cliff the past two years. In 2015, just four short seasons ago, North Carolina was 11-1, No. 8 in the country, and trading blows with Clemson in the ACC Title Game.

2019 Wake Forest Demon Deacons College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2019

With an enrollment of just 5,100 students, it is nearly impossible for Wake Forest to be competitive in college football. Somehow, Dave Clawson has kept them competitive during his five seasons in Winston-Salem, dragging the Demon Deacons to three straight bowl games following a four-year drought.

2019 Boston College Golden Eagles College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2019

At this point we should just pencil the Eagles in at 7-6 and call it a day, right? Steve Addazio has gotten Boston College to seven wins five times in the last six years. Last season they had a chance to break through to that eight-win plateau but had to watch as their First Responder Bowl matchup with Boise State was unceremoniously cancelled.

2019 Pitt Panthers College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2019

Last year's Pitt Panthers were left for dead after a 45-13 drubbing at Central Florida left them at 2-3. However, Pat Narduzzi waved his magic wand and the Panthers won five of the next six games, securing the school's first ever ACC Atlantic title and a slot in the conference championship.

2019 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2019

I feel bad for Paul Johnson, even though I shouldn't. The man had a severely contentious relationship with local and national media and, frankly, was always kind of a jerk. But Johnson could coach. Boy could he coach. Georgia Tech fans finally got tired of Johnson's triple-option and erratic results. Johnson had seven winning seasons in the last 10 years - including a pair of 11-win seasons.

2019 Duke Blue Devils College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2019

Somehow, David Cutcliffe continues to do more with less, coaxing five of six winning years out of the boys in Durham. This will be one of Cutcliffe's most difficult challenges yet, though, as the Blue Devils undergo a clear retooling this season. Duke has to replace 85 percent of its passing yards and 80 percent of its receiving from last year.

2019 Oklahoma Sooners College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2019

This year is all about mental hurdles for the Sooners. Can they win their third straight Big 12 championship? Can Oklahoma get over the hump and win a bowl game after losing four of their last five? Can the Sooners finally beat an SEC team in the College Football Playoff after losing to Georgia and Alabama the last two years? Can Lincoln Riley, now in his third year at the helm and working with more of his own players after taking over Bob Stoops recruits, put his stamp on this program?

2019 Oklahoma State Cowboys College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2019

Oklahoma State is kind of the prototypical Big 12 team. They can score 50 points or allow 50 points on any given Saturday and are capable of beating or losing to any team in the country in any given week. They are every stereotype that every SEC and ACC fan uses to rag on this high-scoring league, wrapped in one erratic program.

2019 Texas Longhorns College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2019

Last year Texas won 10 games for the first time in nearly a decade, and now the assumption is that they are somehow "back" to being a national powerhouse. However, I think we should pump the brakes a bit on the Longhorns. I know there are a lot of people that want the Longhorns to be "back". But I don't think they are quite there yet.

2019 Iowa State Cyclones College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2019

I'm still getting used to the fact that Iowa State is good at football and an actual player in the Big 12. For the better part of the last two decades, this team has been somewhere between cannon fodder and a complete afterthought. But Matt Campbell is doing excellent work in Ames and has guided this group to back-to-back 8-5 seasons.

2019 TCU Horned Frogs College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2019

Gary Patterson has been down this road before. In both 2013 (4-8) and 2016 (6-7), the Horned Frogs were coming off rare seasons with fewer than 10 wins. They rebounded to go 12-1 and 11-3, respectively, in their follow-up seasons. And after last year's 7-6 slog, Patterson has his Horned Frogs in a perfect position to bounce back once again.

2019 Texas Tech Red Raiders College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2019

Last year, I mused about how much more rope the Texas Tech athletic department would give Kliff Kingsbury. The answer was apparently, "not much". I predicted an easy 'under' winner on this shoddy program in 2018. Kingsbury was then fired (as predicted), only to fail himself upward by stealing an NFL head coaching slot.

2019 West Virginia Mountaineers College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2019

For the first time in years, West Virginia football begins a season without Dana Holgersen on the hot seat. The only reason that's the case is that Holgersen bolted for Houston this offseason. Holgersen left the WVU roster in shambles, and now new head coach Neal Brown is left to pick up the pieces.

2019 Baylor Bears College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2019

Matt Rhule was a revelation in his second season in Waco. After suffering through a disastrous 1-11 first year, he turned things around, getting the Bears to seven wins and a bowl game. It was one of the best turnarounds in the country and has Bears backers excited about what is to come as the team seeks out a ninth bowl game in 10 years.

2019 Kansas State Wildcats College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2019

I will start this Kansas State preview the same way I start most Kansas State previews. By pointing out that Bill Snyder is a goddamn national treasure. Unfortunately, Snyder has moved on, finally retiring last season. The man is truly one of the greatest college football coaches in the sport's history. And he was one of the best underdog coaches in North American sports history. The guy was a moneymaker.

2019 Kansas Jayhawks College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2019

absolutely no idea why Miles would self-exile himself to Kansas. But here he is. I find it hard to believe he couldn't have landed a better job, maybe somewhere in the ACC, but he's decided to take over a Jayhawks program that hasn't been to a bowl game in more than a decade.

2019 Florida State Seminoles Football Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 7/29/2019

Let's talk about the last few years for Florida State football for a second. From 2012 to 2016 the team won 59 games in five years and a national title. They were a machine. Feared. Then Jimbo Fisher had his mid-life crisis and checked out of what became his final season in Tallahassee, and they went 7-6. And last year they were just 5-7 under Willie Taggart and missed a bowl game for the first time in 37 years.

2019 Miami Hurricanes Football Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 7/29/2019

Last year was such a strange year in Miami. In 2017, the team was one of the big stories of the year. They went 10-3 to win their division convincingly, the Turnover Chain became legendary, and after winning their first 10 games people were dreaming of another Miami title. They went into last year with reasonably high expectations.

2019 Tennessee Volunteers Football Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 7/29/2019

It wasn't that long ago that Tennessee football mattered. People feared the Volunteers. They won a national title in 1998 and were dangerous both before and after that. But the Phil Fulmer era ended with a fizzle, Lane Kiffin was a stunning disaster of a hire, Derek Dooley was incompetent, and Butch Jones made no progress at all.

2019 Stanford Cardinal Football Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 7/29/2019

David Shaw in one of the top coaching minds in the country. I am confident in that. But it feels like he needs to get his mojo back a little bit. His last couple of years haven't been disastrous by any means - many coaches out there would kill to win nine games just once, and he has done it the last two years. But after winning three conference titles in four years leading up to 2015, Stanford just hasn't felt quite like the unstoppable force in recent years that they once did.

2019 South Carolina Gamecocks Football Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 7/29/2019

Will Muschamp is such an interesting case - proof that being viewed as a genius doesn't always mean you are actually a genius. In 2008, Texas made him their head coach in waiting, the guy who would replace Mack Brown whenever he left. The defensive coordinator got impatient waiting, though, so in 2010 he took the job replacing Urban Meyer as head coach at Florida. And it mostly went horribly.

2019 Mississippi State Bulldogs Football Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 7/29/2019

I have pet peeve when it comes to college football coaches, and Mississippi State's Joe Moorhead, who I quite respect, has become guilty of it this offseason. Luke Getsy was his offensive coordinator last year, but he left this year to take the position of QB coach for the Green Bay Packers. So, Moorhead, a decorated offensive coordinator at Penn State and elsewhere, has chosen not to name a coordinator.

2019 Minnesota Golden Gophers Football Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 7/29/2019

P.J. Fleck made a big name for himself in his head coaching debut at Western Michigan, taking a hapless program from 1-11 to 13-1 in four seasons. But he has found since moving to Minnesota that it is much tougher being a small fish in a very big pond like the Big Ten than it is rising up in a relatively flat and even conference like the MAC. He's hardly the first guy to figure this out, and he has actually done better than most. After starting off at 5-7 in 2017, he climbed to 7-6 last year, including a bowl win.

2019 Ohio State Buckeyes Football Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 7/28/2019

It's a new era at Ohio State. Urban Meyer is officially gone - though after missing the first three games of last season, it felt like last year was a transition year. Ryan Day is in charge now, and he's making changes to make the team his own. It's a tough position he is in - after being the interim coach last year when Meyer was out, he needs to prove that he is a viable long-term solution and not just a stop-gap before the next real guy comes along like Luke Fickell was after Jim Tressel left and before Meyer arrived.

2019 LSU Tigers Football Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 7/28/2019

At their best last year, LSU could be a very good team - which they proved by beating up on Georgia. But they also had the potential to be a frustrating, lousy team - like when they didn't even show up against Alabama. Their defense wasn't as good as we are used to last year, and that's a concern that Dave Aranda, the defensive coordinator, will have to address this year.

2019 Michigan State Spartans Football Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 7/28/2019

After reaching double digits in wins in four of the five prior years, the 7-6 record the Spartans tallied last year was a serious step back for the team. But it wasn't one without excuses. Namely, 10 different offensive starters missed a combined 48 games due to injury.

2019 Oregon Ducks Football Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship
by Trevor Whenham - 7/28/2019

There are few guys in the country who are going to be more interesting to watch this year than Oregon QB Justin Herbert. When highly-touted QBs come back for their senior season, it is usually because they have work to do to improve their draft stock. Herbert was in play as the first overall pick last year if he had entered the draft, though, and would very likely not have been worse than the second player off the board.